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I find the Alberta Schizophrenia Society unnecessarily adds stress on me. Seems like they do not understand the stress they are putting on me, whereby I am having to set boundaries. Sounds like many in society are unknowingly added stress on you which is not yet understood.
I have also realized the short comings by my therapists, and how they could improve how they effect my treatment…only now am I having my therapists give me the treat need. Not what they where taught…
My comprehension is about 200% better than I was 1-3 years ago, though unfortunately society at large still adds unnecessary stress on me while I still struggle to comprehend some basic information and I’m sorry to say this I maintain it’s largely due to society continuing to pile stress in my pot which is already boiling over… It’s not just my comprehension.
Ehm, nope, if you followed her story, she started out with depression. This is a story about psychiatries failure. Of course she runs into withdrawal in case she cold-turkeys the drugs or withdraws much too fast. Those aren't medications and the withdrawal is harder than from heroin. Just my 2 cents of "wisdom". Professionals have no clue how to handle their own drugs or to take patients of the drugs, sounds strange, but that's how it is...
Yes, I agree. My mental health process is a journey, not a destination. My disorders are unlikely to go away, so what has helped me the most is A) grieving my former sense of identity, and B) radical acceptance of my new identities.
My son who is 24 will not accept that he has anything wrong and will not take medication I watch you all the time and wish so much that somehow he could get started ..
@@lisacaldwell2706 It is so wonderful that you are taking the next step to educate you and your family even though he's not ready to. I was in my mid-20's before I could even accept the idea there might be something amiss. I couldn't even begin to accept the reality of the situation until my 30's. Now that I look back, I can see signs from as young as 6. Keep on plugging away...eventually he will come to terms with it. You loose absolutely every thing you expected to be and every dream you have of your life during that doctors appointment then they tell you, you have not only a mental illness but the one truly dreaded mental illness. He will teach you how to treat him with little subtle comments, actions and conversations. If you want to really get to know him as the person he is now, you should meet him at his level. Truly--I wish you and your son the very best!
We’re here for you. We can still lead beautiful lives, even on medication and living with this illness. You’re so strong and I’m inspired by your transparency. Thank you.
it's a long road but watching and listening to her helps me better understand 🙂. I'm struggling a lot this week because of changing medication and methods. but this helped to hear. because lately it's been to much so I'm doing like she said ☺️. one moment at a time one step at a time not easy but worth it. she's brave and inspiring I appreciate every video.
Stop lying to people... My life Will never get better and neither will anyone else who has this. All your doing is putting false thoughts into people's heads and giving hope where their is none.
My psychiatrist once told me that my bipolar disorder is like if I had had an accident and had lost my legs: I was not getting my legs back, but I would learn to live with it and develop tools to function as normal as possible. I would have times when I just wanted my legs back, I would have times where life felt too difficult, but I would learn to live with it. Seventeen years after getting my diagnosis, I completely agree with him. Lots of love gorgeous ❤️
I am new in this illness (bipolar with psychosis) and it is hard, it is so hard. My life is 20 percent of what it was. It is so hard to socilaze, it is so hard to work, it is so hard to find partner. We just play life on hardest difficulty. Thank you Loren for videos, you motivate us all to keep pushing.
From a strengths perspective, you are very “recovered”! You have a lot of ‘recovered’ skills exhibited here you utilized: you woke up, you prepared for this video, you shared your thoughts with us-that is all worth something.
You are a treasure. I'm a retired social worker and worked with people who had chronic mental health issues. I would have loved to have you share your journey with my clients. I find you and your veido's so uplifting and informative. Keep them coming. Sending you love.
I started having symptoms of schizophrenia when I was 12 years old. I did not get diagnosed until 2004 when I was 37. I had to stop working in 2010. I am now 55. Thank you for your Story. Each episode encourages me to live another day. Thank you.
Having a spouse with severe bipolar, I can relate to the struggles of caring for someone with mental health issues. Especially watching their personalities invert and see them going from a fun, loving, and outgoing to a psychotic mess that turns on everyone who loves them and goes on to destroy everything that ever mattered to them. The agony of their actions made worse by the depression and shame that follows is unbearable to watch. The worse part is that they and their loved ones know that this cycle will repeat.
Regarding chronic illness of this sort; Temple Grandin, the scientist with autism, made this remark - “there is an expression; you don’t grow out of autism, you grow into it”. I think this applies to schizophrenia, but there’s a difficult difference, and that is this; most psychological ailments are present from birth, but schizophrenia usually comes after experiencing a normal childhood, so you know how life is like without the intrusive symptoms of schizophrenia. That’s the dilemma, wanting a return to that time of predictable life that you had experienced. But schizophrenia also seems to improve with time, and that is a hopeful thing. I believe that we will develop therapies that lessen the symptoms in your lifetime.
Omg I love what you said I keep looking for my son I used to know, I want to see him. Schizophrenia keeps him confused and glossed over. Why does this ugly disease do what it does? I am looking for the better every day.
I have autism, but I seem to understand what I AM missing. On the question, Do you want to be normal?, I do however give a split answer, being both yes and no.
patricia toney , Yes, thanks to all these videos and information. I understood that. I try not to think of how things were before. Day by day. This is all very new to us. With the right education regarding mental health. We can help and advocate for us all. Really, you are all in my prayers. Best wishes
Yes, long-hauler here -- 1968: paranoid-schizophrenia to full-blown psychosis: I think it's an ongoing triumph as you say; we learn mental health maintenance, both rationally and intuitively, as we go along. And it gets "better."
In my experience of “recovering” from cancer, it’s a very similar misconception. I don’t suffer from the same things you do, but your descriptions of navigating life really resonate with me. I’ve really struggled with the idea of recovery having some sort of “finish line” or finality. It doesn’t. People around us don’t understand that either, and it’s very hard to explain.
Hmm so you're in remission but you're never really sure if the cancer is gone? Or you still feel lingering affects from the cancer or the treatments? I know you said it's hard to explain, but I wanted to try to understand.
That was my thought too, that it is very true even for physical illness. I have an episodic illness, with some symptoms that are more or less permanent. People expect me to just "be sick for a while and then move on". I think I (for my own issues) have a quite clear distinction between what is "injury" and "illness", and also "disability". 1 An injury - and I would include easier illnesses like "getting a cold" in this category. I would say breaking an arm would compare to being heartbroken. It is caused by something but normally goes away. These could be more longterm too, like a severe injury would compare to grief. But it is still caused by something and generally you get slightly better with time. 2 An illness would be something usually from inside your body/brain (except catching a disease). Illnesses are (generally) more long term, and _especially_ often more complex and unpredictable. So the healing process is often much more complex than with an injury. 3 Then the third: disability - I'd say "things that don't directly make me suffer, but make life harder" (even though disability wasn't the focus of the video, but I thought I'd mention it too, because that's an important distinction for me personally, maybe for others as well) _Anyway_ - I'm tired today so the exact descriptions above might not make sense lol - BUT people who haven't had an experience with anything more severe than an injury or milder illness, they don't understand the other two categories. They don't understand how complex and long term a severe illness would be, just like they only see "disability" as "someone in wheelchair". I have, to some extent, a little bit from every category I mentioned (both physical and mental) and I find that "people with illness" have more in common with each other, likewise for "people with disability" - regardless if it is mental or physical. I feel that this way of seeing things has helped ME to use for my own health issues, both mental and physical (although many things are fluid between the categories). _Sometimes_ it helps me to explain to others, but at least it has helped _me_ to view _my own_ difficulties this way. And therefore with my own self acceptance, so I feel a little less bad when people don't understand.
I don’t know if anyone is going to read this or even care, I’m a 52 year old woman with schizo affective disorder and so much of the time I just want to give up. Right now I can’t get myself to take showers and I feel like no one in my family wants much to do with me. I’m living with my elderly parents and I know if I go to a group home I’m just going to get worse. I’m just a shell of a person. It’s hard for me to take action to try to improve my life. Thank you for putting yourself out there and making your videos.
My doctor told me that meds don't take away symptoms 100% but make it more manageable. Hearing that made me feel less like I was doing something wrong because I wasn't symptom free 100%
My heart breaks for you, and I will pray for you. My son was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder 20 years ago. He suffers from severe paranoia, delusions, and anxiety and has no insight that he has a mental illness. He has been hospitalized twice, both times against his will, and has improved somewhat while on medication. As soon as he was released he refused medication and any kind of aftercare. He refuses to return to his home state or any intervention. My heart is broken, because he was a brilliant student and pianist and now he is homeless and dependent on my monfhly Western Union money for food. There is nothing good in his future. I hope your future is better. Our society needs to step up to protect these most vulnerable people in our society.
It’s barely manageable even with meds, because when something goes wrong, it’s like the world is ending at least for me, I feel hopeless in those moments of crippling anxiety. Much love and strength to you.♥️
Sweet kind Lauren. I was born with a birth defect. Long story short, I've come to learn to accept MY level of capability. This new journey of my correct diagnosis is still a struggle but everyday gets better. On top of this..... myself and my family are grieving. I'm present and so blessed for that.
What you mentioned about being perceived as an attention seeker for talking about mental health issues really hits home. I have a chronic mental illness that comes with pretty severe symptoms sometimes. Very few people have witnessed my symptoms because I know how to manage them and appear high functioning in public. The downside of that is when I tell people about my illness, I'm often questioned about how severe it is, or if I've actually been formally diagnosed. And the ones that do believe me sometimes treat me like an invalid. These days I only talk about my illness to other people who also have mental illness. They are usually the only ones who understand.
The reason why people question if you are even severely ill is because you are a lot stronger to torture and can handle pain way better than others. Schizophrenia is a mental prison and for those woke individuals who walk in the road of truth holding information from what has been censored and hidden to most know the whole reality of inceptions of intelligence forces. Schizophrenia was meant to kill individuals and extort everyone's thoughts for information gathering to prosecute a sentence of banishment of freedom.
You are such an intelligent, brave, honest and compassionate person. I dont share your ilness, and Im sorry you have it, but you sure are an inspirering force, when it comes to getting the most out of life, even when life deals you difficult, and dare I say, unfair cards. May you keep learning to handdle the ups and downs, you are trying to come to terms with, will always be a significant part of you life. 🙏
This is hands down one of your most impactful videos. We all hear “healing isn’t linear” and “relapses are a part of recovery” but we still think we’ll get better one day. Life will get better. I have to remind myself that my life has gotten better since I started to manage my mental health. My life is MUCH better now, but my definition of “better” had to evolve just like I did.
I believe my partner is going through this or if not something similar. They're in the psychiatry hospital and it's so difficult seeing them like this. Trying to keep myself busy while trying to support them as much as I can. I just hope that they can recover with time and I know it will take time but I genuinely love this person. I understand things may not be like how it was before but that's okay with me. Meeting this person was the best thing that has happened in my life and leaving them alone would break my heart.
I feel like a lot of the talk/ stories we hear about mental illness and those afflicted, contains this archetypal triumph narrative; like “I had a mental illness and now I don’t, and I got an award for this thing I did”. And it’s easy to internalize a sense of failure when those are the stories we’re exposed to. It’s also easy to feel invisible - at least it is for me - when you’re struggling. Often times, being sick necessitates putting parts of our lives on a temporary pause. For me, I end up feeling like both a failure and invisible to those around me as their lives continue moving forward. I wish I had really strong, comforting, and rational counterpoints to follow that up with, but I don’t. I guess I’ll just close by saying that I empathize, and in many ways, I understand how you feel. And lastly, triumph narratives are nice and they serve a purpose, but it requires far greater courage to put yourself out there while you’re still in the depths of it. I think that’s why those are the most powerful voices/stories to be told. Not the ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’, but the ‘I came, I saw, and I’m lost as fuck and terrified, but am still searching’ - that’s human resiliency and it’s far braver than human triumph. -Amyleigh
"internalized a sense of failure" WoW, good use of words. When I am going through it, I assume I am lazy, undisciplined, no will power. I don' remember the days when I am functioning, get up, get moving, get to it. And when I am functioning, every little shortfall, I assume I am just lazy, undisciplined and have no will power. I never reach the point where life is easy going and I don;t have to think about myself at all.
My father also has schizophrenia. Your speech was so useful. My father is 60 years old now and he always seeks for complete cure for his illness. One day in his psychotic attack he confessed that he could not know himself for 40 years. That moment was very depressing for me...
I'm living with chronic mental disorder myself and the last few years, I'm in my mid 50's, I've struggled with coming to terms with what my disorder has "stolen" from me, from my life. I went to college to be able to work with, help, other people struggling with crisis, with mental illness (such irony). I got to work as a counselor in a psychiatric open facility, but had to give it up when other stressors in my life made it impossible to go on, I couldn't keep it together any longer. I've lived with my husband since 1996, and it hasn't been easy for him. That he's stayed is in my eyes a miracle. My mental struggles has also made our relationship, how do i put it in English - there's been an imbalance, he's always been the "functioning" one. It has not been good for my self esteem and to hear "Have you not been taking your meds?" when I'm upset, hasn't improved that (I always do). I'm the needy one, I need meds and I actually wouldn't be able to support myself if it weren't for him. I do get benefits from the state, but the sum is ridiculously small (but I shouldn't complain, I live in a country that actually pay at least something to people that can't provide for themselves). In a way I'm like a child, give nothing back to society, don't contribute. To me, it's embarrassing. Here in Sweden one of the first question you ask a person you meet is "What do you do for a living? - Are you on vacation?" And I have to say that I don't work at all. In Sweden that's an anomali, you can't say "I'm a homemaker". To be a housewife isn't ok. It's almost an attack on the idea of equality between men and women. A woman that doesn't provide for herself is not liberated, not free. There's always that awkward silence when I answer that I don't work. It would be easier if my disability were more obvious, could be seen on the outside. I'm dealing with sorrow. I mourn the life that didn't turn out the way I hoped. I'm tired of feeling ashamed, tired of the feeling that I've failed. I know that I shouldn't be that harsh on myself. That I should appreciate what I actually have accomplished. My now grownup son knows that he's loved, feels safe, that he knows we''re there for him when he needs it. He trusts me and that's worth something.
I get it. My husband is on disability and we aren’t accepted in this small town, the woman we bought this house from spread it around. How nice of her. He has very low opinion of himself even though he has a high intelligence.
Very true... If more people understood this, we'd understand our true connection to one another but we've been tricked into not understanding our true nature. All you can do is live a good life helping others and in the process you will make others aware...
I have avoidant personality disorder and ptsd. This resonates with me deeply. It feels like an ungoing grieving process. This video made me release some of the pressure I am unknowingly putting on myself
When I am experiencing severe psychomotor retardation (unable to start moving) for years I thought I was lazy or lacked self discipline, even when I know that when it lifts, I am up and moving and getting things done, and enjoying it. But going through the experience of it is so all consuming, I just can't remember that this isn't the real me.
I really appreciate your channel. My best friend began experiencing symptoms at 19 and now 30 years later is still fighting. I watch your content to better understand her experience.
This also helped me feel less alone. My mental illnesses also started at 19 and I'm 26 now and really needed this video as well because I feel like I've endlessly been waiting for that finish line, I keep thinking "what if I'm 30 and I'm still not better?" time goes by so fast. That almost sounds like I'm just waiting and doing nothing but I actually work on it every single day and I tried literally everything just like the girl in this video. It's exhausting.
Recovery is not a place, just a journey. It allows you to function in what others refer to as a “normal” world. Don’t take on the burden of where you believe you should be. Instead, live where you are in a constant state of recovery. I believe in you.
I am now 41 and still have no idea what to do with my scizoaffective disorder after knowing for 20 years. It has ruined my life. I have very little left, the only thing that has helped me has been relationships which my illness never seems to allow me to keep for long because no ones family want anyone dating a person with a serious mental illness because I can't keep a job and am on disability. It makes living very hard, and even harder to have any hope. You are right, you have to deal with it DAILY and no one wants to deal with that shit on a daily basis, we dont't even want to deal with this daily why would anyone else.
Thanks for being open. My neighbors are negative towards us and one reason is because my husband is on disability. It’s not easy for us in a small town.
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
You have done such an amazing job of raising awareness and sharing information on schizoaffective disorder Lauren. You are an inspiration to me and many others. You have accomplished so many amazing things in your life, having one of the most successful mental illness channels on youtube, being in a loving relationship with Rob, giving birth to a child and creating a loving community. There is still so much more in this life that you can and will achieve. Recovery is a journey not a destination, we will continue until the end. Thank you for all you do :) lots of love ❤️
Relying on a higher power is essential. God is everything and that's the only constant through illness. I am married, have children, have an excellent career as a lawyer. I have dealt with various mental illnesses from time to time. I've also been hospitalized. But God is the one who absolutely brings you through situation and gives you the full life. There's too much effort being put out in one's own effort nothing works like this. The supernatural is absolutely needed and living a life of faith. I really think it's important to have hope but hope and what?
The message in last video has been the most important to me. I'm at that stage too of accepting my illness/disorder for what it is..a lifelong personal journey that I need to take responsibility for with the help of appropriate others. I can recover up to a point.The rest I need to learn to live with. It's taken me 63 years to get here. Thanks Lauren for all that you are.
This reminds me of Carl Jung’s work of embracing the shadow self. New normal. I’m sorry you have to go through this. I thank you for educating me. I appreciate your willingness to be vulnerable. Great work!
Happy to inform you that after turning 40, the patient's symptoms become milder for many who are suffering from schizophrenia or schizoafective disorder. These diagnoses don't mean necessarily the end of the worlld. Thank you for letting people know more about these mental illlnesses.
I’m so sorry that you are having to find a way of accepting and living with your mental illness. It has to be so frustrating. Oh that is a wonderful idea to go with a person to groups and hear others talk of their issues. I enjoy listening to your real, soothing and non harried tone of voice.
Thank you for capturing this difficult experience in such an honest, gentle video. I can hear your sadness and your strength in equal parts, and it really means a lot to hear this all expressed. The way you've filmed this makes it feel almost like a guided meditation. I feel like you're holding open a window for everyone with a similar experience to come reach through, to move towards that acceptance. Thank you so much for making this, and wishing you all the happiness in the world
AMAzING . thank you. i want all my coworkers, and all my clients, to watch this. to know who you are. yes i am a mental health worker. 20 years. i want to understand thought disorder. we all need to learn so much more about it. we cant move forward unless we can imagine doing so, all of us, both those with the illness, and those who support and know people with the illness. people still turn away, they dont think about it. 11,000 people have now seen this video. thats progress with 11,000 people. please know that we value and honor you for your work. and for who you ARE.
Thank you for sharing Lauren. I was never given an ‘official’ diagnosis but have been taking antipsychotics for 30 years now. Recently had a slight wobble because doing too much and at age 47 I don’t think I will ever come off medication but you never know. I have taken first generation and then second generation antipsychotics which have less side effects for me. There is always the hope of newer treatments again in the future. Through my suffering however I have found God who is the ultimate healer. I may still live with the illness but I am grateful for the empathy and humbleness it has taught me. Happy Canada day btw from England 🏴 🇨🇦❤️
I work with women who experience chronic and often debilitating mental illness (in your city, I believe!). Everyone's version of recovery is subjective, but mentally, I picture you when telling them that they can achieve this. When I tell them they can live meaningful lives, have love, share their voice, etc I know its true because of people like you prove it 💗
Your hair looks beautiful sweetie. I've been watching you for a long time. I fought this illness with my Love Melissa for five years. She took her own life on March 10 2022. Thank you! And please we need you! And we're here for you!!!
The most important about mental disorder//illness is not recovering as a cure but enhancing your self conciousness and mental resiliency to learning how to navigate a sea disturbed by a frequent storm and not how to do it in completely unrealistic an idealized calm sea. The biggest difference between a good and a worsened mental health is a presence or a lack of self insight.
As a schizophrenic person myself, I’ve often wondered if the lack of energy I felt during the pandemic will become the new normal for me going forward. That could be something I talk with my therapist about, who I have an appointment with next week. Anyways, excellent video as usual. Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us.
Sadly, the unnatural world we live in does not allow us to heal. Somehow we are expected to thrive under conditions that go completely against our nature. When we face traumas caused by home life, society and civilization, even what we see on TV (like the News), we're expected to just carry on without processing it. Go to school after an anxious, sleepless night. Function at work while going through a divorce and losing everything at home. Don't show that you're suffering, be "normal", be pleasant no matter what. It's no wonder some of us struggle so hard when we are unable to truly be ourselves and honor our own feelings. Don't be too hard on yourself, you're doing your best in this world.
It's true... We've been tricked and coerced to accept an unnatural world. We;ve lost insight into who and what we really are. What is our true relationship to one another really is. It's sad when become aware. All you can do is live your life as an example for others. Jim Carrey was mocked and scorned and even laughed at... Hollywood and most of the world had thought he had lost his mind. And now??? They all desire what he has found... Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
I developed chronic, relatively treatment resistent depression and social anxiety towards the end of my puperty and I'm now heading towards the 30s. It was very tough to accept that I'll probably never be able reach the same level of robustness/resilience that I had before. This doesn't mean however that there won't be any successes to celebrate down the road of life. Every little step forward is an achievement and it's important to be mindful and cherish those moments. Not doing so may result in a horrible state of mind, acompanied by an even more intense feeling of meaninlessness and an iron focus on unrealistic expectations. Will I ever get healthy again? Probably not, but given a hypothetical unlimited amount of time I can get infinitesimally close to that goal. For now I can at the very least make sure that the lows aren't as crippling anymore and don't last as long as they used to.
This is something I struggle with alot, accepting that even if things are good, any time things can be ruined by just chemical imbalances. It may not always get better fully but you adapt and find a new way to live and live as best as you can. Whenever people told me that it would get better I never believed them. I've been going to therapy since I was 7 and psychiatry since 8, and im 18 now. I finally did get better which makes it easier to keep going when things get awful again. Hang in there, I know how you feel, and it sucks so much, but you have shown me so much about being strong and resilient. Thank you
Today, you may have had to release expectations you had for yourself pre-symptoms but you have also achieved so much that others may have only dreamed about just a decade ago if diagnosed with schizophrenia. Unmet expectations make us ALL miserable whether you have schizophrenia or any other limiting factor. You are intelligent, caring and a gifted communicator helping folks that have had few examples of people having a good life with schizophrenia. I wish my brother had lived in this moment and time and had a chance to listen to you. He was loved but he had an incredibly limited life because our parents were told of all he could not do. He was intelligent, thoughtful, loving and friendly. I never let him read the letters doctors had written that he could not ever learn anything new, but God only knows how many times he was told he couldn’t have much. I know it’s not enough to say this, but I wish you a life full of love and purpose. It certainly seems you have that despite your difficult challenges. Stress will poke those symptoms out so do your best to know that everything will eventually resolve and hug Rob and your kids and all the people that love you. Be kind to yourself & take the meds that help you manage the symptoms. Know we hug you across the miles in admiration and respect for your transparency and willingness to say out loud your innermost thoughts and feelings about this journey. 🤗💙🙏🏼
Hello Lauren, hearing it in your voice and seeing it in your eye, I can only imagine your feeling of resignation as the hopes may seems to fade away every time the disorder takes away the better of you. You are not alone , Myself as a caregiver to my wife who has your exact condition, I do suffer as well by being lost in the maze of mental health systems that is broken, by the countless roadblocks I faced off while navigating at sight to find direction to understand her condition, by the thankless efforts you do for your loved one, by the physical, emotional, mental fatigues accumulated over time. Caring for someone whose condition makes them rejecting / refusing your help, whose condition deprives you from basic human affinity like a word, a look, a smile, seating near by, holding hands. This condition is not only destructive for the mentally ill person, it can become slowly harmful for the healthy one. Wishing you strength and courage. Happy Canada day! Hey!
Thank you so much for this video ... I use all the "Good techniques" and it still does NOT go away You are not alone.. It is the worst illness in the World.. Please stay strong ..You are valuable and you matter
Being a person with non-psychotic bipolar disorder ( only 50% of people with bipolar disorder have psychotic symptoms. I’m fortunate to be the lucky 50% of people with bipolar disorder who do not have psychotic symptoms) I’m more fortunate that I have the right medications (and the medications I take are generic) and I have recovered, but I still take medications to stabilize my mental illness. I still have monthly psychiatric appointments. I’m not going to say that this is the same outcome for everyone And when I watch your videos, there are ad(s) before the video begins
My dear, I cured myself of schizophrenia with meditation. I meditated for a few hours a day, everyday for the first 5 years that I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and now I’m a no longer diagnosed and am no longer prescribed or taking medication. I have released the traumas that caused the symptoms of schizophrenia by meditating. In my meditation I allow love to dissolve the pain. 🙏🏻🍃🦋
Lauren you are truly amazing and I wish you well everyday. I started watching your channel when I was struggling with my young adult daughter’s mental health challenges 4 years ago and you gave me hope. Unfortunately my daughter didn’t survive her struggles. She was only 25. Please keep educating people and never stop letting others know that it is a struggle but that it can be managed. There has to be more that can be done to help others suffering with mental health. So many medication changes and hospitalizations and my daughter just kept looking for something to make her feel better. Keep fighting. Never stop. Sending much love to you and your family. You are strong and brave 💕
I have schizoaffective. I think success has different meaning for many people. I am married, gainfully employed, student and a volunteer. I take things second by second and my illness doesn’t have to make my decision. I am focused from having an agenda, self care and education. Remember you are not alone. It’s good to talk about your symptoms to your therapist and take your medication. Pat yourself in the back and tell yourself you are enough and you are doing well. Take care ❤️
My god Lauren. Thank you 🫶🏼. I could say so much more, but I don’t think I’d be able to pinpoint just how immensely your efforts for advocacy and videos like this help people like me. I don’t have schizophrenia, I suffer from chronic depression; but when it comes to mental health everything that you covered in this video reigns true. Thank you for teaching those of us on youtube who get lucky enough to come across your channel, more about your condition, and for finding it in you to share your own insights.
I have paranoid schizophrenia. Basically, I hear voices that accuse me of horrible things. My GP, a few psychiatrists, and even more nurses have all said it could be a lifelong condition. I had, for a long time, thought that if I did the right things, ate right, exercised, took my medication, etc., then I would get better, recover; and it just doesn't work like that. Sometimes, yes, I have days when I don't hear voices. Yes, I have insight into the voices. For example, if people really did think these things about me, then I would have to deal with the police, lawyers, court proceedings, etc., instead of mental health professionals and hospitalisation. But it won't go away. Thank you for making this video. I feel better about the chronic nature of my illness. I hope I can lead a normal, happy, and fulfilling life, despite schizophrenia. You give me strength in that hope.
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
Oh Lauren!! I feel your pain and frustration! As I’ve said before, I have lived with my husband with Schizoaffective Disorder for 39 yrs! And u are so insightful and helpful to so many!! U Are so right about thinking about recovery as the acceptance of the disease. I feel so bad for u when u talk about being on the least amount of meds as possible. I know what u r worried about for the future. But I feel for u, the best thing is to avoid relapses by staying on your meds or changing them. The thing that bothers me the most about my husband‘s illness is the lack of support and the misunderstandings from the family, friends and the community. When anybody in my circle gets sick or has an operation or has some success, I send a card, a text, flowers, bake them cookies, visit. I protect my husband‘s privacy, he doesn’t want people to know his psych business, he’s embarrassed. It’s my husband‘s story to tell and he can’t talk about it. So the lack of emotional support and encouragement from everyone is what hurts me the most. My husband is a warrior . I’m proud of how he handles this damn Illness. He’s a good person.
Before you get caught up in a misguided system, check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know... EDIT: By the way, it's unusual to receive this type of diagnosis so later in life but it does happen, doesn't it? I was diagnosed at 42 and then after my first suicide attempt, I was told by a psychiatrist people don't develop these disorders late in life. I looked at her like "Are U kidding me???" They don't know... They don't have a clue. Every single thing in psychiatry is based on theories, including "brain chemistry imbalance"!!! which is the very foundation of this area in medicine.
I remember leonardo dicaprio said in blood diamond that "God left this place a long time ago". Sometimes when my mental illness gets real bad i think to myself, what if leo is right.
It's difficult to determine what God is, to understand its true nature. There are many different views on what God is, even who it is in many cases but its all around us if we open our heart and mind. What ever this God presence is, it hasn't forgotten you or anyone else for that matter. How could it??? The world is crazy right now and it's understandable why people would begin to question it's existence or not believe that there is something below the surface. Whatever brings you comfort, believe. It's true to you and that's all that really matters. The bottom line is, collectively, we're the ones responsible for our collective happiness. I love and care for everyone. This is my mission here. It's really everyone's mission. We and everything around us are deeply connected to one another in a way some are able to describe better than I can. But basically, we've been tricked into not understanding our true relationship to one another by being trained to think "me", instead of "we" My only advice is to not become religious in any way. Walk a spiritual path that feeds your being. don't allow yourself to be caught up in the rules and regulations of God because God, whatever God is, wanted you to be free in every way...
Very much agree. I see it as “remission” rather than recovery, of sorts. It’ll be a part of you forever, but it’s intensity/power will evolve as you learn to live _better_ despite, and even _because_ of, it. Mental illnesses also unlock some magical powers, like patience, empathy, acceptance, determination, etc. 🎉
You are so beautiful. I watch all your videos and think how lovely and sweet you are. So intelligent and knowledgeable. Insightful. And sooo pretty 😍 I'm so glad your channel has helped you to find self acceptance, even if you do still struggle, you're helping so many people. My diagnoses are different to yours, but your videos are still helpful to me 💗
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
I know what you mean. I have schizoaffective, ocd and along with diabetes. It’s hard to have this and thinking about it is depressing, but prayer, loving oneself being kind to yourself, thinking positive and finding ways to laugh and love is what’s best when it comes to thinking about it.
Sounds like you are doing a remarkable job in staying pro-active in your health n well being. At 65 I still suffer from anxiety n moderate depression but most meds are not an option especially now that I have only 75 percent lung capacity. It feels hopeless at times but with the grace of God, I manage to still get out of bed and face whatever challenges await. I can only move forward in life as going backwards is not an option.
My current main diagnoses are bipolar 1 disorder & PTSD. I have not "recovered" despite meds & therapy. It has been a process of adjusting to acquired disability. I am also considered by clinicians to have permanent mental injury from trauma.
It is vital to have a realistic understanding of the likelihood of recovery. Some psychiatric organisations and professionals like to talk about "recovery". This is deeply misleading for people with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder. There is a present no prospect of recovery only successful management. On the other hand the illness is being studied and the tools to try to find a cure are getting better and more available so there is some hope for the future. Considering the damage that schizophrenia and depression cause they have both been seriously starved of research support to search for a cure rather than medication that simply helps with the symptoms.
I committed myself to a mindfulness, stress reduction daily practice 3 years ago. I attended all my counseling sessions and meet honestly on consistently with my doctor. I tell my friends what I need from them. I really focus on nutrition-especially fresh veggies and quality protein. I quit smoking and doing drugs and drink in moderation. I do light to moderate exercise daily. I try to get fresh air every day. I distance myself from situations I don't want to be in. Also; like you I am accepting of myself.
Hi Lauren. I can definitely relate to your struggle as I have been suffering from ocd with borderline psychotic features (after a bad medication withdrawal and prolonged stress.) Living with a severe mental illness is hard. Having an unreliable brain is really hard and/or struggling to be rational when your mind is telling you something odd. You are an intelligent and compassionate person, and I believe that you will get better. One time a counselor told me that the brain is very capable of change and adapting over time. I think we are all capable of healing.
And a partner also needs to understand that this is going to be your life also. When you're married, this is the path forward for both of you and nothing will ever be the same. That's hard for some partners to deal with also. Rob will always have to adapt to whatever your current levels of functionality are, and if he's ok with that then life is better with a partner. If someone is constantly apologizing to their partner, or feeling that they are ruining someone else's life also, then that can be a huge burden. There is a lot to think about here. Thank you.
Mental health is not exactly like other diseases. EVERYONE has to maintain it for the entirety of their lives. It's not just a *snap*, I'm all good. Think of it like this: If you want to have a good body, you have to work out, go to the gym, and eat right. But this has to be done in perpetuity. You cannot stop. You don't just reach a good level and stay there. I feel that people who struggle with more severe mental health issues feel that if they can get to an acceptable level, they'll just stay there, and that's no true. And those with acceptable levels of mental health WILL deteriorate over time, if they don't manage it.
We are unique! God allowed this burden but there is a blessing with this disorder. We have so much incite with other people. We have way more compassion for others. It can be a blessing as well
I have schizoaffective disorder and working as a nurse and a mom( just like you) :) not everyone is the same and I have no idea if I’ll get any better or worse but there’s nothing wrong with being where you are. Accepting your reality and learning to love the life you have or at least have peace with it is so important. Seeing the positives and not comparing to other people is key. Thank you for sharing so much with us, you’re making a big difference and if you ever feel you’re not doing enough know that I think you’re doing more than enough. You’re a bright light in a dark world 💡
Also wanted to mention I’m on several different meds and have tried many. Still living with symptoms and plenty of side effects. Had to switch so many times and found a combo that is working for now but it is very hard to get to a place like this and not everyone can. Many people are resistant or can’t tolerate side effects
My daughter is a psychiatric nurse also. She pursued this career because of my personal experience. I've recovered... Are you willing to open your mind to a completely different perspective? Mental illness is not what they think it is. It;s really a metabolic disorder that affects glucose metabolism in the brain. Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
@@theTranscendentOnes OK... You certainly have the right to this opinion but I'm not going to allow some individual filled with hate to the D sway me to think anything. PeaCe2U
I am wishing you well in your recovery journey. I have been diagnosed Schizoaffective Bipolar Type and I have experience the most difficult moments of my life with this illness, which included despair and hopelessness. For the past year, I haven't taken any medication and haven't experienced any symptoms. For years, I also tried medication and therapy and found them helpful. What also helped me was attending healing prayers where God dealt with my inner wounds causes by past trauma. It was a very painful process as it felt everything my brain was repressing got released. But even though i felt darkness, I always felt God was with me in every step. I do not share this to push faith on anyone, I love the beauty of people embracing different beliefs, and even I used to be atheist in the past. I share my recovery process in the hopes that it may help someone. Do not give up, hold on to hope, keep on fighting mighty warriors.
You are a bright, beautiful child of God, with a tremendous life story (testimony) you were born to share with the world. We need more truth tellers like you shining your light showing others the way through the darkness that mental illness can bring to both the family and the person. My beautiful son has not faired as excellent as you but the same still applies he is a child of God and even if there is no end these wonderful souls deserve dignity and gentleness. Thank you for sharing your light. God bless your sweetheart.
Lauren is my hero. If you can do it, i can do it too. I watch you from a far, but it feels so close to me. You give a good example to so many people, who lost their way or hope. I look up to you Lauren.
Thank you for this and I wish you all the best on your journey! I was diagnosed with Autism a couple years ago but have dealt with it my entire life. It doesn't go away and often stress triggers a cascade of symptoms. Schizophrenia and ADHD were also conditions that I was also diagnosed with as sub disorders. Acceptance that I can't heal has been very difficult but finding resources like this and your channel has helped me not feel alone and hopeless.
It is so good to hear this discussed with honesty. Many people take their health for granted, and can't conceive of what a luxury that is. Taking things one day at a time is becoming our foremost strategy, and when it comes to the understanding of extended family, I have come to understand why it is so hard for them to accept the chronic nature of mental illness, and I don't try to convert them, but it makes me grateful for this channel, and your courage! It makes this such a good space for me to go to when things are hard.
Hi Lauren, As I was listening to this video I don't know if it's the way you talk normally but I felt there was some sadness and difficulty talking about what you were sharing today. I could be way off but that's just what it sounded like and felt like for me on this end. You know Lauren you are incredible to be on RUclips and having the willingness to be transparent with such a difficult difficult mental disorder of schizoaffective. I had a dear friend who I don't know where she is right now but it was so difficult to watch her go through what she was going through and when she was not in reality there was no telling her anything but only agree with whatever she was experiencing. I learned that very early on. Never challenge anybody in psychosis because they can't understand that what they're seeing and experiencing isn't totally real. I don't have schizoaffective disorder nor schizophrenia I have complex PTSD very severe and severe chronic reoccurring depression and I'm 64 years old and I still have very serious meltdowns due to all the trauma I went through and abuse I went through as a child. And I know it will probably always be that way. I was as you described, I have tried everything nutrition diets biofeedback EMDR so many types of modalities I've walked down the path of. And to be honest I'm on good medication now which over the years has had to been changed several times but I just know I live with a mental illness that's the way it is and like you said accepting it and loving yourself and knowing that you are not the illness, yes I experience the illness but I still am a very good person I'm a caring person a loving person and an intelligent person. And it's not my fault that I have to have meltdowns and live with really just difficult things in this life. And I'm also physically disabled which just adds another layer. I just want to thank you so much I just really have gotten so much from the short time I've been subscribed to your Channel. I always love to listen to what you have to say no matter what it is it always is an enjoyable experience even when you're talking about the hard stuff. I hope you have a great weekend, and take good care of yourself.
Thank you, living with treatment resistant depression, finally accepted this and stopped trying so hard and now focus on a management plan. The challenge was when I was first diagnosed I was told that take this medication and feel better in a few weeks. Did not happen and here years later finally having self acceptance without starting a RUclips channel. And with being in a better place due to self acceptance.
i lived with treatment resistant depression, no medication seemed to work, finally VNS ( vagus nerve stimulation) did . ask your dr about it. good luck.
You’re so well spoken, and I really appreciate how much consideration you put into what you say. It’s not an easy journey but you’re helping people with your efforts of awareness and activism. Thank you.
I discovered a program at Rutgers University in NJ that absolutely changed my life I'm on 4 medications and none of them are antipsychotics. The brain is a very powerful thing, as individual as we are. I have learned knowledge there that I never knew existed I'm not 100%, but I'm 90%, and that's okay with me. Learning to untie that knot one by one in your brain strand by strand changed my life.
Thank you for your videos. I suffer from depression and have a schizoaffective and a bi polar siblings. And a husband with GAD / panic disorder. Life can get so heavy and it can seem hopeless . I have learned to stop expecting it to go away and accept what is and take it one day at a time. And know we all carry something and this is our something. And look for the rare sunshine that comes every now and then .
JOIN OUR ONLINE PEER SUPPORT COMMUNITY
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I find the Alberta Schizophrenia Society unnecessarily adds stress on me. Seems like they do not understand the stress they are putting on me, whereby I am having to set boundaries.
Sounds like many in society are unknowingly added stress on you which is not yet understood.
I have also realized the short comings by my therapists, and how they could improve how they effect my treatment…only now am I having my therapists give me the treat need.
Not what they where taught…
I’m sorry it sounds like your relapses may have been stress induced…
My relapses absolutely had been stress induced.
My comprehension is about 200% better than I was 1-3 years ago, though unfortunately society at large still adds unnecessary stress on me while I still struggle to comprehend some basic information and I’m sorry to say this I maintain it’s largely due to society continuing to pile stress in my pot which is already boiling over…
It’s not just my comprehension.
A lot of stress relief will come from understanding the source of your struggles and societal problems and how they effect you.
This is not just a video for those struggling with schizophrenia, or even mental health. This is a message of wisdom.
100%
❤ So true
Ehm, nope, if you followed her story, she started out with depression. This is a story about psychiatries failure. Of course she runs into withdrawal in case she cold-turkeys the drugs or withdraws much too fast. Those aren't medications and the withdrawal is harder than from heroin. Just my 2 cents of "wisdom". Professionals have no clue how to handle their own drugs or to take patients of the drugs, sounds strange, but that's how it is...
What is the wisdom you referring too?…sincerely asking
how would people know that they are suffering from mental illness??
Yes, I agree. My mental health process is a journey, not a destination. My disorders are unlikely to go away, so what has helped me the most is A) grieving my former sense of identity, and B) radical acceptance of my new identities.
Hello! I am just now grieving my former identity! Hard as you know! Thanks for sharing! All the best to you!
So proud of you, Marc!
I am so thankful for you! Thank you for being so transparent. Our 23 year old son is new at this same journey 💕
My son who is 24 will not accept that he has anything wrong and will not take medication I watch you all the time and wish so much that somehow he could get started ..
@@lisacaldwell2706 It is so wonderful that you are taking the next step to educate you and your family even though he's not ready to. I was in my mid-20's before I could even accept the idea there might be something amiss. I couldn't even begin to accept the reality of the situation until my 30's. Now that I look back, I can see signs from as young as 6. Keep on plugging away...eventually he will come to terms with it. You loose absolutely every thing you expected to be and every dream you have of your life during that doctors appointment then they tell you, you have not only a mental illness but the one truly dreaded mental illness. He will teach you how to treat him with little subtle comments, actions and conversations. If you want to really get to know him as the person he is now, you should meet him at his level. Truly--I wish you and your son the very best!
We’re here for you. We can still lead beautiful lives, even on medication and living with this illness. You’re so strong and I’m inspired by your transparency. Thank you.
it's a long road but watching and listening to her helps me better understand 🙂. I'm struggling a lot this week because of changing medication and methods. but this helped to hear. because lately it's been to much so I'm doing like she said ☺️. one moment at a time one step at a time not easy but worth it. she's brave and inspiring I appreciate every video.
@@joshuasquires2551 One day at a time. Each day is a fresh new day 💚
@@joshuasquires2551 keep going. One day, minute, second at a time.💪🫶
This was really helpful....I am having a bad day with symptoms today
Stop lying to people... My life Will never get better and neither will anyone else who has this. All your doing is putting false thoughts into people's heads and giving hope where their is none.
My psychiatrist once told me that my bipolar disorder is like if I had had an accident and had lost my legs: I was not getting my legs back, but I would learn to live with it and develop tools to function as normal as possible. I would have times when I just wanted my legs back, I would have times where life felt too difficult, but I would learn to live with it. Seventeen years after getting my diagnosis, I completely agree with him.
Lots of love gorgeous ❤️
I really like this comparison. Thank you for sharing.
I am new in this illness (bipolar with psychosis) and it is hard, it is so hard. My life is 20 percent of what it was. It is so hard to socilaze, it is so hard to work, it is so hard to find partner. We just play life on hardest difficulty. Thank you Loren for videos, you motivate us all to keep pushing.
🙌
Keep going brother. Try not to fight the illness but let it teach you how you need to manage it.
@@suzannealsop3394 Ty
sry to hear that, but you can life with it.
I hear you and I see you!
Good luck in your journey of self discovery! :)
From a strengths perspective, you are very “recovered”! You have a lot of ‘recovered’ skills exhibited here you utilized: you woke up, you prepared for this video, you shared your thoughts with us-that is all worth something.
You are a treasure. I'm a retired social worker and worked with people who had chronic mental health issues. I would have loved to have you share your journey with my clients. I find you and your veido's so uplifting and informative. Keep them coming. Sending you love.
you should advice meditation and observational skills. gentle observation CALM.
@@robertoromerro wish they listen😢
Accepting I might not survive my illness made me smile more and enjoy life more, as best as I can. Thanks for this video ❤️
If you don't mind me asking, what illness do you have?
💛
I appreciate your positive attitude!!
I started having symptoms of schizophrenia when I was 12 years old. I did not get diagnosed until 2004 when I was 37. I had to stop working in 2010. I am now 55. Thank you for your Story. Each episode encourages me to live another day. Thank you.
What work did you do,if I may ask?
@@ZYNinaGazi I was a Customer Service Rep for DirecTV.
That was really hard for me to accept as well. That I’ll always be “sick” and just manage symptoms forever.
Having a spouse with severe bipolar, I can relate to the struggles of caring for someone with mental health issues. Especially watching their personalities invert and see them going from a fun, loving, and outgoing to a psychotic mess that turns on everyone who loves them and goes on to destroy everything that ever mattered to them. The agony of their actions made worse by the depression and shame that follows is unbearable to watch. The worse part is that they and their loved ones know that this cycle will repeat.
God bless youband your family 👪 🙏 ❤️
Regarding chronic illness of this sort; Temple Grandin, the scientist with autism, made this remark - “there is an expression; you don’t grow out of autism, you grow into it”. I think this applies to schizophrenia, but there’s a difficult difference, and that is this; most psychological ailments are present from birth, but schizophrenia usually comes after experiencing a normal childhood, so you know how life is like without the intrusive symptoms of schizophrenia. That’s the dilemma, wanting a return to that time of predictable life that you had experienced. But schizophrenia also seems to improve with time, and that is a hopeful thing. I believe that we will develop therapies that lessen the symptoms in your lifetime.
Omg I love what you said I keep looking for my son I used to know, I want to see him. Schizophrenia keeps him confused and glossed over. Why does this ugly disease do what it does? I am looking for the better every day.
Thank you for saying this, so well
I have autism, but I seem to understand what I AM missing. On the question, Do you want to be normal?, I do however give a split answer, being both yes and no.
patricia toney , Yes, thanks to all these videos and information. I understood that. I try not to think of how things were before. Day by day. This is all very new to us. With the right education regarding mental
health. We can help and advocate for us all. Really, you are all in my prayers. Best wishes
I believe that they’re gonna stumble upon ground breaking treatments for disorders that deal with psychosis to I hold out hope every single day❤️❤️❤️
Yes, long-hauler here -- 1968: paranoid-schizophrenia to full-blown psychosis: I think it's an ongoing triumph as you say; we learn mental health maintenance, both rationally and intuitively, as we go along. And it gets "better."
yes it gets better your right about that. 2003 schizophrenia 22 at the time
What gets better? Less symptoms? Or do u just get used to life and it’s symptoms
Thank you
@@maryoneil1468: Well, we learn mental health maintenance continuously, and that covers all bases incl. meds.
In my experience of “recovering” from cancer, it’s a very similar misconception. I don’t suffer from the same things you do, but your descriptions of navigating life really resonate with me. I’ve really struggled with the idea of recovery having some sort of “finish line” or finality. It doesn’t. People around us don’t understand that either, and it’s very hard to explain.
Hmm so you're in remission but you're never really sure if the cancer is gone? Or you still feel lingering affects from the cancer or the treatments? I know you said it's hard to explain, but I wanted to try to understand.
That was my thought too, that it is very true even for physical illness. I have an episodic illness, with some symptoms that are more or less permanent. People expect me to just "be sick for a while and then move on". I think I (for my own issues) have a quite clear distinction between what is "injury" and "illness", and also "disability".
1 An injury - and I would include easier illnesses like "getting a cold" in this category. I would say breaking an arm would compare to being heartbroken. It is caused by something but normally goes away. These could be more longterm too, like a severe injury would compare to grief. But it is still caused by something and generally you get slightly better with time.
2 An illness would be something usually from inside your body/brain (except catching a disease). Illnesses are (generally) more long term, and _especially_ often more complex and unpredictable. So the healing process is often much more complex than with an injury.
3 Then the third: disability - I'd say "things that don't directly make me suffer, but make life harder" (even though disability wasn't the focus of the video, but I thought I'd mention it too, because that's an important distinction for me personally, maybe for others as well)
_Anyway_ - I'm tired today so the exact descriptions above might not make sense lol - BUT people who haven't had an experience with anything more severe than an injury or milder illness, they don't understand the other two categories. They don't understand how complex and long term a severe illness would be, just like they only see "disability" as "someone in wheelchair". I have, to some extent, a little bit from every category I mentioned (both physical and mental) and I find that "people with illness" have more in common with each other, likewise for "people with disability" - regardless if it is mental or physical.
I feel that this way of seeing things has helped ME to use for my own health issues, both mental and physical (although many things are fluid between the categories). _Sometimes_ it helps me to explain to others, but at least it has helped _me_ to view _my own_ difficulties this way. And therefore with my own self acceptance, so I feel a little less bad when people don't understand.
@@christinam2475 yup ,all cancer patients feel like that
I don’t know if anyone is going to read this or even care, I’m a 52 year old woman with schizo affective disorder and so much of the time I just want to give up. Right now I can’t get myself to take showers and I feel like no one in my family wants much to do with me. I’m living with my elderly parents and I know if I go to a group home I’m just going to get worse. I’m just a shell of a person. It’s hard for me to take action to try to improve my life. Thank you for putting yourself out there and making your videos.
My doctor told me that meds don't take away symptoms 100% but make it more manageable. Hearing that made me feel less like I was doing something wrong because I wasn't symptom free 100%
My psychiatrist told me the same
My heart breaks for you, and I will pray for you. My son was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder 20 years ago. He suffers from severe paranoia, delusions, and anxiety and has no insight that he has a mental illness. He has been hospitalized twice, both times against his will, and has improved somewhat while on medication. As soon as he was released he refused medication and any kind of aftercare. He refuses to return to his home state or any intervention. My heart is broken, because he was a brilliant student and pianist and now he is homeless and dependent on my monfhly Western Union money for food. There is nothing good in his future. I hope your future is better. Our society needs to step up to protect these most vulnerable people in our society.
It hurts me a lot ,
You said it yourself. You are an ongoing triumph. And have helped thousands!
It’s barely manageable even with meds, because when something goes wrong, it’s like the world is ending at least for me, I feel hopeless in those moments of crippling anxiety. Much love and strength to you.♥️
Read my solution and practice calmly but SOMEWHAT diligently. as fits artisticly pleasing from a calm and neat mindset.
God bless beautiful lady. 75YR OLD FEMALE Grandma with worries for a loved one. Thank you for sharing.
Sweet kind Lauren. I was born with a birth defect. Long story short, I've come to learn to accept MY level of capability. This new journey of my correct diagnosis is still a struggle but everyday gets better. On top of this..... myself and my family are grieving. I'm present and so blessed for that.
What you mentioned about being perceived as an attention seeker for talking about mental health issues really hits home. I have a chronic mental illness that comes with pretty severe symptoms sometimes. Very few people have witnessed my symptoms because I know how to manage them and appear high functioning in public. The downside of that is when I tell people about my illness, I'm often questioned about how severe it is, or if I've actually been formally diagnosed. And the ones that do believe me sometimes treat me like an invalid. These days I only talk about my illness to other people who also have mental illness. They are usually the only ones who understand.
The reason why people question if you are even severely ill is because you are a lot stronger to torture and can handle pain way better than others. Schizophrenia is a mental prison and for those woke individuals who walk in the road of truth holding information from what has been censored and hidden to most know the whole reality of inceptions of intelligence forces. Schizophrenia was meant to kill individuals and extort everyone's thoughts for information gathering to prosecute a sentence of banishment of freedom.
Man, it’s still used as an explanation from people who can’t deal with me as a person.
Once a psychiatrist told me, "You appear much better than you are."
I try to stay financially independent so I can enjoy the things that truly make me happy making me forget the pains of my mental illness.
You are such an intelligent, brave, honest and compassionate person. I dont share your ilness, and Im sorry you have it, but you sure are an inspirering force, when it comes to getting the most out of life, even when life deals you difficult, and dare I say, unfair cards. May you keep learning to handdle the ups and downs, you are trying to come to terms with, will always be a significant part of you life. 🙏
This is hands down one of your most impactful videos. We all hear “healing isn’t linear” and “relapses are a part of recovery” but we still think we’ll get better one day. Life will get better. I have to remind myself that my life has gotten better since I started to manage my mental health. My life is MUCH better now, but my definition of “better” had to evolve just like I did.
I believe my partner is going through this or if not something similar. They're in the psychiatry hospital and it's so difficult seeing them like this. Trying to keep myself busy while trying to support them as much as I can. I just hope that they can recover with time and I know it will take time but I genuinely love this person. I understand things may not be like how it was before but that's okay with me. Meeting this person was the best thing that has happened in my life and leaving them alone would break my heart.
Thank you for that. Your words also help.
I feel like a lot of the talk/ stories we hear about mental illness and those afflicted, contains this archetypal triumph narrative; like “I had a mental illness and now I don’t, and I got an award for this thing I did”.
And it’s easy to internalize a sense of failure when those are the stories we’re exposed to.
It’s also easy to feel invisible - at least it is for me - when you’re struggling. Often times, being sick necessitates putting parts of our lives on a temporary pause. For me, I end up feeling like both a failure and invisible to those around me as their lives continue moving forward.
I wish I had really strong, comforting, and rational counterpoints to follow that up with, but I don’t.
I guess I’ll just close by saying that I empathize, and in many ways, I understand how you feel.
And lastly, triumph narratives are nice and they serve a purpose, but it requires far greater courage to put yourself out there while you’re still in the depths of it.
I think that’s why those are the most powerful voices/stories to be told.
Not the ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’, but the ‘I came, I saw, and I’m lost as fuck and terrified, but am still searching’ - that’s human resiliency and it’s far braver than human triumph.
-Amyleigh
"internalized a sense of failure" WoW, good use of words. When I am going through it, I assume I am lazy, undisciplined, no will power. I don' remember the days when I am functioning, get up, get moving, get to it. And when I am functioning, every little shortfall, I assume I am just lazy, undisciplined and have no will power. I never reach the point where life is easy going and I don;t have to think about myself at all.
Schizoaffective/schizophrenia is very hard to deal with and we really appreciate this place of support on youtube!
My father also has schizophrenia. Your speech was so useful. My father is 60 years old now and he always seeks for complete cure for his illness. One day in his psychotic attack he confessed that he could not know himself for 40 years. That moment was very depressing for me...
I'm living with chronic mental disorder myself and the last few years, I'm in my mid 50's, I've struggled with coming to terms with what my disorder has "stolen" from me, from my life. I went to college to be able to work with, help, other people struggling with crisis, with mental illness (such irony). I got to work as a counselor in a psychiatric open facility, but had to give it up when other stressors in my life made it impossible to go on, I couldn't keep it together any longer. I've lived with my husband since 1996, and it hasn't been easy for him. That he's stayed is in my eyes a miracle. My mental struggles has also made our relationship, how do i put it in English - there's been an imbalance, he's always been the "functioning" one. It has not been good for my self esteem and to hear "Have you not been taking your meds?" when I'm upset, hasn't improved that (I always do). I'm the needy one, I need meds and I actually wouldn't be able to support myself if it weren't for him. I do get benefits from the state, but the sum is ridiculously small (but I shouldn't complain, I live in a country that actually pay at least something to people that can't provide for themselves). In a way I'm like a child, give nothing back to society, don't contribute. To me, it's embarrassing. Here in Sweden one of the first question you ask a person you meet is "What do you do for a living? - Are you on vacation?" And I have to say that I don't work at all. In Sweden that's an anomali, you can't say "I'm a homemaker". To be a housewife isn't ok. It's almost an attack on the idea of equality between men and women. A woman that doesn't provide for herself is not liberated, not free. There's always that awkward silence when I answer that I don't work. It would be easier if my disability were more obvious, could be seen on the outside. I'm dealing with sorrow. I mourn the life that didn't turn out the way I hoped. I'm tired of feeling ashamed, tired of the feeling that I've failed. I know that I shouldn't be that harsh on myself. That I should appreciate what I actually have accomplished. My now grownup son knows that he's loved, feels safe, that he knows we''re there for him when he needs it. He trusts me and that's worth something.
I get it. My husband is on disability and we aren’t accepted in this small town, the woman we bought this house from spread it around. How nice of her. He has very low opinion of himself even though he has a high intelligence.
@@Lololeelee sorry to hear someone could be so callus. Hope you're both doing well.
@@provostg Thank you for your kind words. I’m crossing my fingers that our neighbors move. Lol.
Hugs to you
Recovery is in the eye of the beholder. Taking meds, working out and thriving with your family is recovery. You got this!
Sounds like she's in a jungle
"we are not human beings on a spiritual journey. we are spiritual beings on a human journey."
Very true... If more people understood this, we'd understand our true connection to one another but we've been tricked into not understanding our true nature. All you can do is live a good life helping others and in the process you will make others aware...
You are a beautiful soul. I hope you find your peace and hopefuly feel better
I have avoidant personality disorder and ptsd. This resonates with me deeply. It feels like an ungoing grieving process. This video made me release some of the pressure I am unknowingly putting on myself
When I am experiencing severe psychomotor retardation (unable to start moving) for years I thought I was lazy or lacked self discipline, even when I know that when it lifts, I am up and moving and getting things done, and enjoying it. But going through the experience of it is so all consuming, I just can't remember that this isn't the real me.
I really appreciate your channel. My best friend began experiencing symptoms at 19 and now 30 years later is still fighting. I watch your content to better understand her experience.
Ty this helped me not feel alone reading that
This also helped me feel less alone. My mental illnesses also started at 19 and I'm 26 now and really needed this video as well because I feel like I've endlessly been waiting for that finish line, I keep thinking "what if I'm 30 and I'm still not better?" time goes by so fast. That almost sounds like I'm just waiting and doing nothing but I actually work on it every single day and I tried literally everything just like the girl in this video. It's exhausting.
Recovery is not a place, just a journey. It allows you to function in what others refer to as a “normal” world. Don’t take on the burden of where you believe you should be. Instead, live where you are in a constant state of recovery. I believe in you.
Beautifully said 🌹
@@wren1114 thank you
I am now 41 and still have no idea what to do with my scizoaffective disorder after knowing for 20 years. It has ruined my life. I have very little left, the only thing that has helped me has been relationships which my illness never seems to allow me to keep for long because no ones family want anyone dating a person with a serious mental illness because I can't keep a job and am on disability. It makes living very hard, and even harder to have any hope. You are right, you have to deal with it DAILY and no one wants to deal with that shit on a daily basis, we dont't even want to deal with this daily why would anyone else.
Thanks for being open. My neighbors are negative towards us and one reason is because my husband is on disability. It’s not easy for us in a small town.
@@Lololeelee People dont want us to be open, that's one reason I am.
@@Lololeelee I wish you and your husband the best. People like you who advocate for us are infinitely priceless.
@@chadgarrett6947 Thank you. So true, people think that mental illness can just be wished away or we can just take a pill and be “normal”.
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
My brother and I were just talking about this today. It's a lifelong grind that many people will never understand or truly take seriously.
You have done such an amazing job of raising awareness and sharing information on schizoaffective disorder Lauren. You are an inspiration to me and many others. You have accomplished so many amazing things in your life, having one of the most successful mental illness channels on youtube, being in a loving relationship with Rob, giving birth to a child and creating a loving community. There is still so much more in this life that you can and will achieve. Recovery is a journey not a destination, we will continue until the end. Thank you for all you do :) lots of love ❤️
Relying on a higher power is essential. God is everything and that's the only constant through illness. I am married, have children, have an excellent career as a lawyer. I have dealt with various mental illnesses from time to time. I've also been hospitalized. But God is the one who absolutely brings you through situation and gives you the full life. There's too much effort being put out in one's own effort nothing works like this. The supernatural is absolutely needed and living a life of faith. I really think it's important to have hope but hope and what?
The message in last video has been the most important to me. I'm at that stage too of accepting my illness/disorder for what it is..a lifelong personal journey that I need to take responsibility for with the help of appropriate others. I can recover up to a point.The rest I need to learn to live with. It's taken me 63 years to get here. Thanks Lauren for all that you are.
This reminds me of Carl Jung’s work of embracing the shadow self. New normal. I’m sorry you have to go through this. I thank you for educating me. I appreciate your willingness to be vulnerable. Great work!
Happy to inform you that after turning 40, the patient's symptoms become milder for many who are suffering from schizophrenia or schizoafective disorder. These diagnoses don't mean necessarily the end of the worlld. Thank you for letting people know more about these mental illlnesses.
I’m so sorry that you are having to find a way of accepting and living with your mental illness. It has to be so frustrating.
Oh that is a wonderful idea to go with a person to groups and hear others talk of their issues.
I enjoy listening to your real, soothing and non harried tone of voice.
Thank you for capturing this difficult experience in such an honest, gentle video. I can hear your sadness and your strength in equal parts, and it really means a lot to hear this all expressed. The way you've filmed this makes it feel almost like a guided meditation. I feel like you're holding open a window for everyone with a similar experience to come reach through, to move towards that acceptance. Thank you so much for making this, and wishing you all the happiness in the world
your comment is written so beautifully and respectful
Best wishes to you. I appreciate your channel.
AMAzING . thank you. i want all my coworkers, and all my clients, to watch this. to know who you are. yes i am a mental health worker. 20 years. i want to understand thought disorder. we all need to learn so much more about it. we cant move forward unless we can imagine doing so, all of us, both those with the illness, and those who support and know people with the illness. people still turn away, they dont think about it. 11,000 people have now seen this video. thats progress with 11,000 people. please know that we value and honor you for your work. and for who you ARE.
Thank you for sharing Lauren. I was never given an ‘official’ diagnosis but have been taking antipsychotics for 30 years now. Recently had a slight wobble because doing too much and at age 47 I don’t think I will ever come off medication but you never know. I have taken first generation and then second generation antipsychotics which have less side effects for me. There is always the hope of newer treatments again in the future. Through my suffering however I have found God who is the ultimate healer. I may still live with the illness but I am grateful for the empathy and humbleness it has taught me. Happy Canada day btw from England 🏴 🇨🇦❤️
🙏 Amen. Thank u for your words of encouragement 💓 God bless you.
@@raquelbryan5869 God Bless you too 🙏
I work with women who experience chronic and often debilitating mental illness (in your city, I believe!). Everyone's version of recovery is subjective, but mentally, I picture you when telling them that they can achieve this. When I tell them they can live meaningful lives, have love, share their voice, etc I know its true because of people like you prove it 💗
Your hair looks beautiful sweetie. I've been watching you for a long time. I fought this illness with my Love Melissa for five years. She took her own life on March 10 2022. Thank you! And please we need you! And we're here for you!!!
Rip hope you are keeping well
The most important about mental disorder//illness is not recovering as a cure but enhancing your self conciousness and mental resiliency to learning how to navigate a sea disturbed by a frequent storm and not how to do it in completely unrealistic an idealized calm sea. The biggest difference between a good and a worsened mental health is a presence or a lack of self insight.
Exactly. This is how I’ve chosen to view recovery for myself and it’s made a huge difference in lessening the turmoil brought on by my relapses.
As a schizophrenic person myself, I’ve often wondered if the lack of energy I felt during the pandemic will become the new normal for me going forward. That could be something I talk with my therapist about, who I have an appointment with next week. Anyways, excellent video as usual. Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us.
My life is 100% broken since my diagnoses, 10 years since my first adult hospitalization, nothing ever gets better I'm done trying to be honest
Sadly, the unnatural world we live in does not allow us to heal. Somehow we are expected to thrive under conditions that go completely against our nature. When we face traumas caused by home life, society and civilization, even what we see on TV (like the News), we're expected to just carry on without processing it. Go to school after an anxious, sleepless night. Function at work while going through a divorce and losing everything at home. Don't show that you're suffering, be "normal", be pleasant no matter what. It's no wonder some of us struggle so hard when we are unable to truly be ourselves and honor our own feelings. Don't be too hard on yourself, you're doing your best in this world.
It's true... We've been tricked and coerced to accept an unnatural world. We;ve lost insight into who and what we really are. What is our true relationship to one another really is. It's sad when become aware. All you can do is live your life as an example for others. Jim Carrey was mocked and scorned and even laughed at... Hollywood and most of the world had thought he had lost his mind. And now??? They all desire what he has found...
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
I developed chronic, relatively treatment resistent depression and social anxiety towards the end of my puperty and I'm now heading towards the 30s. It was very tough to accept that I'll probably never be able reach the same level of robustness/resilience that I had before.
This doesn't mean however that there won't be any successes to celebrate down the road of life. Every little step forward is an achievement and it's important to be mindful and cherish those moments. Not doing so may result in a horrible state of mind, acompanied by an even more intense feeling of meaninlessness and an iron focus on unrealistic expectations.
Will I ever get healthy again? Probably not, but given a hypothetical unlimited amount of time I can get infinitesimally close to that goal. For now I can at the very least make sure that the lows aren't as crippling anymore and don't last as long as they used to.
You are awesome, Lauren. Stay golden and strong ❤
Never, ever stop fighting. Sometimes it hurts so badly but you are too wonderful to give up. 🌹🌹🌹🥰🥰🥰
This is something I struggle with alot, accepting that even if things are good, any time things can be ruined by just chemical imbalances. It may not always get better fully but you adapt and find a new way to live and live as best as you can. Whenever people told me that it would get better I never believed them. I've been going to therapy since I was 7 and psychiatry since 8, and im 18 now. I finally did get better which makes it easier to keep going when things get awful again. Hang in there, I know how you feel, and it sucks so much, but you have shown me so much about being strong and resilient. Thank you
I'm glad you have gotten help at such a young age I wish I had gotten help then maybe I wouldn't have felt like such a weirdo when I was in school
Today, you may have had to release expectations you had for yourself pre-symptoms but you have also achieved so much that others may have only dreamed about just a decade ago if diagnosed with schizophrenia. Unmet expectations make us ALL miserable whether you have schizophrenia or any other limiting factor. You are intelligent, caring and a gifted communicator helping folks that have had few examples of people having a good life with schizophrenia. I wish my brother had lived in this moment and time and had a chance to listen to you. He was loved but he had an incredibly limited life because our parents were told of all he could not do. He was intelligent, thoughtful, loving and friendly. I never let him read the letters doctors had written that he could not ever learn anything new, but God only knows how many times he was told he couldn’t have much. I know it’s not enough to say this, but I wish you a life full of love and purpose. It certainly seems you have that despite your difficult challenges. Stress will poke those symptoms out so do your best to know that everything will eventually resolve and hug Rob and your kids and all the people that love you. Be kind to yourself & take the meds that help you manage the symptoms. Know we hug you across the miles in admiration and respect for your transparency and willingness to say out loud your innermost thoughts and feelings about this journey. 🤗💙🙏🏼
Hello Lauren, hearing it in your voice and seeing it in your eye, I can only imagine your feeling of resignation as the hopes may seems to fade away every time the disorder takes away the better of you.
You are not alone ,
Myself as a caregiver to my wife who has your exact condition, I do suffer as well by being lost in the maze of mental health systems that is broken, by the countless roadblocks I faced off while navigating at sight to find direction to understand her condition, by the thankless efforts you do for your loved one, by the physical, emotional, mental fatigues accumulated over time. Caring for someone whose condition makes them rejecting / refusing your help, whose condition deprives you from basic human affinity like a word, a look, a smile, seating near by, holding hands. This condition is not only destructive for the mentally ill person, it can become slowly harmful for the healthy one.
Wishing you strength and courage.
Happy Canada day! Hey!
Thank you so much for this video ... I use all the "Good techniques" and it still does NOT go away
You are not alone.. It is the worst illness in the World.. Please stay strong ..You are valuable and you matter
Being a person with non-psychotic bipolar disorder ( only 50% of people with bipolar disorder have psychotic symptoms. I’m fortunate to be the lucky 50% of people with bipolar disorder who do not have psychotic symptoms) I’m more fortunate that I have the right medications (and the medications I take are generic) and I have recovered, but I still take medications to stabilize my mental illness. I still have monthly psychiatric appointments. I’m not going to say that this is the same outcome for everyone
And when I watch your videos, there are ad(s) before the video begins
My dear, I cured myself of schizophrenia with meditation. I meditated for a few hours a day, everyday for the first 5 years that I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and now I’m a no longer diagnosed and am no longer prescribed or taking medication. I have released the traumas that caused the symptoms of schizophrenia by meditating. In my meditation I allow love to dissolve the pain. 🙏🏻🍃🦋
What type of meditation did you? I have never heard of this being reality.
Lauren you are truly amazing and I wish you well everyday. I started watching your channel when I was struggling with my young adult daughter’s mental health challenges 4 years ago and you gave me hope. Unfortunately my daughter didn’t survive her struggles. She was only 25. Please keep educating people and never stop letting others know that it is a struggle but that it can be managed. There has to be more that can be done to help others suffering with mental health. So many medication changes and hospitalizations and my daughter just kept looking for something to make her feel better. Keep fighting. Never stop. Sending much love to you and your family. You are strong and brave 💕
My condolences 🙏
Thanks for sharing your experience. It was very informative. I’m sure it will help a lot of people.
I have schizoaffective. I think success has different meaning for many people. I am married, gainfully employed, student and a volunteer. I take things second by second and my illness doesn’t have to make my decision. I am focused from having an agenda, self care and education. Remember you are not alone. It’s good to talk about your symptoms to your therapist and take your medication. Pat yourself in the back and tell yourself you are enough and you are doing well. Take care ❤️
My god Lauren. Thank you 🫶🏼.
I could say so much more, but I don’t think I’d be able to pinpoint just how immensely your efforts for advocacy and videos like this help people like me. I don’t have schizophrenia, I suffer from chronic depression; but when it comes to mental health everything that you covered in this video reigns true. Thank you for teaching those of us on youtube who get lucky enough to come across your channel, more about your condition, and for finding it in you to share your own insights.
I have paranoid schizophrenia. Basically, I hear voices that accuse me of horrible things.
My GP, a few psychiatrists, and even more nurses have all said it could be a lifelong condition.
I had, for a long time, thought that if I did the right things, ate right, exercised, took my medication, etc., then I would get better, recover; and it just doesn't work like that.
Sometimes, yes, I have days when I don't hear voices. Yes, I have insight into the voices. For example, if people really did think these things about me, then I would have to deal with the police, lawyers, court proceedings, etc., instead of mental health professionals and hospitalisation. But it won't go away.
Thank you for making this video. I feel better about the chronic nature of my illness. I hope I can lead a normal, happy, and fulfilling life, despite schizophrenia. You give me strength in that hope.
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
Lauren you show that even with schizophrenia you can still live a fairly normal life and be a great mom and wife.
Oh Lauren!! I feel your pain and frustration! As I’ve said before, I have lived with my husband with Schizoaffective Disorder for 39 yrs! And u are so insightful and helpful to so many!! U Are so right about thinking about recovery as the acceptance of the disease. I feel so bad for u when u talk about being on the least amount of meds as possible. I know what u r worried about for the future. But I feel for u, the best thing is to avoid relapses by staying on your meds or changing them. The thing that bothers me the most about my husband‘s illness is the lack of support and the misunderstandings from the family, friends and the community. When anybody in my circle gets sick or has an operation or has some success, I send a card, a text, flowers, bake them cookies, visit. I protect my husband‘s privacy, he doesn’t want people to know his psych business, he’s embarrassed. It’s my husband‘s story to tell and he can’t talk about it. So the lack of emotional support and encouragement from everyone is what hurts me the most. My husband is a warrior . I’m proud of how he handles this damn Illness. He’s a good person.
Dear Margaret, God bless you. You are wonderful person.
Great channel thank you. Both you and your husband are so bright that articulate and really help bring light to these issues.
I'm 57 years old.4 days ago I was diagnosed with schizoaffect bipolar type finally I have something to work with
Before you get caught up in a misguided system, check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know... EDIT: By the way, it's unusual to receive this type of diagnosis so later in life but it does happen, doesn't it? I was diagnosed at 42 and then after my first suicide attempt, I was told by a psychiatrist people don't develop these disorders late in life. I looked at her like "Are U kidding me???" They don't know... They don't have a clue. Every single thing in psychiatry is based on theories, including "brain chemistry imbalance"!!! which is the very foundation of this area in medicine.
Simply put, you inspire me.
You are such an incredible speaker, Lauren ❤️ Thank you for sharing your heart with us ❤️
I remember leonardo dicaprio said in blood diamond that "God left this place a long time ago". Sometimes when my mental illness gets real bad i think to myself, what if leo is right.
It's difficult to determine what God is, to understand its true nature. There are many different views on what God is, even who it is in many cases but its all around us if we open our heart and mind. What ever this God presence is, it hasn't forgotten you or anyone else for that matter. How could it??? The world is crazy right now and it's understandable why people would begin to question it's existence or not believe that there is something below the surface. Whatever brings you comfort, believe. It's true to you and that's all that really matters. The bottom line is, collectively, we're the ones responsible for our collective happiness. I love and care for everyone. This is my mission here. It's really everyone's mission. We and everything around us are deeply connected to one another in a way some are able to describe better than I can. But basically, we've been tricked into not understanding our true relationship to one another by being trained to think "me", instead of "we" My only advice is to not become religious in any way. Walk a spiritual path that feeds your being. don't allow yourself to be caught up in the rules and regulations of God because God, whatever God is, wanted you to be free in every way...
Very much agree. I see it as “remission” rather than recovery, of sorts. It’ll be a part of you forever, but it’s intensity/power will evolve as you learn to live _better_ despite, and even _because_ of, it. Mental illnesses also unlock some magical powers, like patience, empathy, acceptance, determination, etc. 🎉
You are so beautiful. I watch all your videos and think how lovely and sweet you are. So intelligent and knowledgeable. Insightful. And sooo pretty 😍
I'm so glad your channel has helped you to find self acceptance, even if you do still struggle, you're helping so many people. My diagnoses are different to yours, but your videos are still helpful to me 💗
Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
I know what you mean. I have schizoaffective, ocd and along with diabetes. It’s hard to have this and thinking about it is depressing, but prayer, loving oneself being kind to yourself, thinking positive and finding ways to laugh and love is what’s best when it comes to thinking about it.
🙏
Sounds like you are doing a remarkable job in staying pro-active in your health n well being. At 65 I still suffer from anxiety n moderate depression but most meds are not an option especially now that I have only 75 percent lung capacity. It feels hopeless at times but with the grace of God, I manage to still get out of bed and face whatever challenges await. I can only move forward in life as going backwards is not an option.
all i can say is thank you for your post, i feel i am not different or alone anymore.
thank you❤
My current main diagnoses are bipolar 1 disorder & PTSD. I have not "recovered" despite meds & therapy. It has been a process of adjusting to acquired disability. I am also considered by clinicians to have permanent mental injury from trauma.
It is vital to have a realistic understanding of the likelihood of recovery. Some psychiatric organisations and professionals like to talk about "recovery". This is deeply misleading for people with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder. There is a present no prospect of recovery only successful management. On the other hand the illness is being studied and the tools to try to find a cure are getting better and more available so there is some hope for the future. Considering the damage that schizophrenia and depression cause they have both been seriously starved of research support to search for a cure rather than medication that simply helps with the symptoms.
I committed myself to a mindfulness, stress reduction daily practice 3 years ago. I attended all my counseling sessions and meet honestly on consistently with my doctor. I tell my friends what I need from them. I really focus on nutrition-especially fresh veggies and quality protein. I quit smoking and doing drugs and drink in moderation. I do light to moderate exercise daily. I try to get fresh air every day. I distance myself from situations I don't want to be in. Also; like you I am accepting of myself.
oh and i try to serve my community
Hi Lauren. I can definitely relate to your struggle as I have been suffering from ocd with borderline psychotic features (after a bad medication withdrawal and prolonged stress.) Living with a severe mental illness is hard. Having an unreliable brain is really hard and/or struggling to be rational when your mind is telling you something odd. You are an intelligent and compassionate person, and I believe that you will get better. One time a counselor told me that the brain is very capable of change and adapting over time. I think we are all capable of healing.
And a partner also needs to understand that this is going to be your life also. When you're married, this is the path forward for both of you and nothing will ever be the same. That's hard for some partners to deal with also. Rob will always have to adapt to whatever your current levels of functionality are, and if he's ok with that then life is better with a partner. If someone is constantly apologizing to their partner, or feeling that they are ruining someone else's life also, then that can be a huge burden. There is a lot to think about here. Thank you.
Mental health is not exactly like other diseases. EVERYONE has to maintain it for the entirety of their lives. It's not just a *snap*, I'm all good.
Think of it like this:
If you want to have a good body, you have to work out, go to the gym, and eat right. But this has to be done in perpetuity. You cannot stop. You don't just reach a good level and stay there.
I feel that people who struggle with more severe mental health issues feel that if they can get to an acceptable level, they'll just stay there, and that's no true.
And those with acceptable levels of mental health WILL deteriorate over time, if they don't manage it.
We are unique! God allowed this burden but there is a blessing with this disorder. We have so much incite with other people. We have way more compassion for others. It can be a blessing as well
I have schizoaffective disorder and working as a nurse and a mom( just like you) :) not everyone is the same and I have no idea if I’ll get any better or worse but there’s nothing wrong with being where you are. Accepting your reality and learning to love the life you have or at least have peace with it is so important. Seeing the positives and not comparing to other people is key. Thank you for sharing so much with us, you’re making a big difference and if you ever feel you’re not doing enough know that I think you’re doing more than enough. You’re a bright light in a dark world 💡
Also wanted to mention I’m on several different meds and have tried many. Still living with symptoms and plenty of side effects. Had to switch so many times and found a combo that is working for now but it is very hard to get to a place like this and not everyone can. Many people are resistant or can’t tolerate side effects
My daughter is a psychiatric nurse also. She pursued this career because of my personal experience. I've recovered... Are you willing to open your mind to a completely different perspective? Mental illness is not what they think it is. It;s really a metabolic disorder that affects glucose metabolism in the brain. Check out the interview videos of Dr Christopher M Palmer on RUclips. Mental illness is not what they thought it was. Its a metabolic disorder that is driven by something called "silent inflammation". Our brains are unable to use glucose as an energy source efficiently any longer due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Alcoholism is caused by the same exact mechanism but many of them do not go onto develop "serious" mental illnesses because they don't carry the genes to do so. They will go onto develop other brain diseases or disorders if they carry the gene for them. It all boils down to epigenetics. Epigenetics rule over gene expression. You can carry a gene and never go onto develop the disease or disorder. There are no guarantees that the diet will work for everyone, but I personally believe it has something to do with the severity of the underlying state of inflammation that is present. The thing is, eventually it will come under control but I'm not sure Dr Palmer is aware of this. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be completely restored, but the time it takes to do so can vary in some individuals. Look for my post in this thread, assuming RUclips hasn't censored it yet. It contains 3 video interviews of Dr Palmer. He's releasing a book titled "Brain Energy" on November 22, 2022. I've preordered mine on Amazon, but any solid book distributor is taking orders for its release. Every single other disease or disorder directly involves inflammation to trigger it's onset, through epigenetics, and maintain its grip but inflammation plays no role whatsoever in mental illness??? Our brains are the most critical yet most delicate organ in our bodies and inflammation plays no role in the development of the illness that impact it??? Yeah, right... Watch the videos I posted in this thread. If RUclips has hidden them, let me know and I'll cut and paste the directly to you. I intend to reach out to Dr Palmer and share several ideas with him. He is definitely on the right track but it's unclear he knows the two underlying conditions that predominately are causing these forms of illness to develop in the first place, though I could be wrong. Let me know...
@@kenshofalco8326 Thank you for sharing/posting this. It is exactly what I am thinking about mental disorders.
@@kenshofalco8326 Doctor Palmer is a charlatan making money off of idiots like you.
@@theTranscendentOnes OK... You certainly have the right to this opinion but I'm not going to allow some individual filled with hate to the D sway me to think anything. PeaCe2U
I am wishing you well in your recovery journey. I have been diagnosed Schizoaffective Bipolar Type and I have experience the most difficult moments of my life with this illness, which included despair and hopelessness. For the past year, I haven't taken any medication and haven't experienced any symptoms. For years, I also tried medication and therapy and found them helpful. What also helped me was attending healing prayers where God dealt with my inner wounds causes by past trauma. It was a very painful process as it felt everything my brain was repressing got released. But even though i felt darkness, I always felt God was with me in every step. I do not share this to push faith on anyone, I love the beauty of people embracing different beliefs, and even I used to be atheist in the past. I share my recovery process in the hopes that it may help someone. Do not give up, hold on to hope, keep on fighting mighty warriors.
Lauren, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you and your channel. This video in particular is so helpful.
You are a bright, beautiful child of God, with a tremendous life story (testimony) you were born to share with the world. We need more truth tellers like you shining your light showing others the way through the darkness that mental illness can bring to both the family and the person. My beautiful son has not faired as excellent as you but the same still applies he is a child of God and even if there is no end these wonderful souls deserve dignity and gentleness. Thank you for sharing your light. God bless your sweetheart.
Lauren is my hero.
If you can do it, i can do it too.
I watch you from a far, but it feels so close to me. You give a good example to so many people, who lost their way or hope. I look up to you Lauren.
Thank you for this and I wish you all the best on your journey! I was diagnosed with Autism a couple years ago but have dealt with it my entire life. It doesn't go away and often stress triggers a cascade of symptoms. Schizophrenia and ADHD were also conditions that I was also diagnosed with as sub disorders. Acceptance that I can't heal has been very difficult but finding resources like this and your channel has helped me not feel alone and hopeless.
It is so good to hear this discussed with honesty. Many people take their health for granted, and can't conceive of what a luxury that is. Taking things one day at a time is becoming our foremost strategy, and when it comes to the understanding of extended family, I have come to understand why it is so hard for them to accept the chronic nature of mental illness, and I don't try to convert them, but it makes me grateful for this channel, and your courage! It makes this such a good space for me to go to when things are hard.
Hi Lauren,
As I was listening to this video I don't know if it's the way you talk normally but I felt there was some sadness and difficulty talking about what you were sharing today. I could be way off but that's just what it sounded like and felt like for me on this end. You know Lauren you are incredible to be on RUclips and having the willingness to be transparent with such a difficult difficult mental disorder of schizoaffective. I had a dear friend who I don't know where she is right now but it was so difficult to watch her go through what she was going through and when she was not in reality there was no telling her anything but only agree with whatever she was experiencing. I learned that very early on. Never challenge anybody in psychosis because they can't understand that what they're seeing and experiencing isn't totally real. I don't have schizoaffective disorder nor schizophrenia I have complex PTSD very severe and severe chronic reoccurring depression and I'm 64 years old and I still have very serious meltdowns due to all the trauma I went through and abuse I went through as a child. And I know it will probably always be that way. I was as you described, I have tried everything nutrition diets biofeedback EMDR so many types of modalities I've walked down the path of. And to be honest I'm on good medication now which over the years has had to been changed several times but I just know I live with a mental illness that's the way it is and like you said accepting it and loving yourself and knowing that you are not the illness, yes I experience the illness but I still am a very good person I'm a caring person a loving person and an intelligent person. And it's not my fault that I have to have meltdowns and live with really just difficult things in this life. And I'm also physically disabled which just adds another layer. I just want to thank you so much I just really have gotten so much from the short time I've been subscribed to your Channel. I always love to listen to what you have to say no matter what it is it always is an enjoyable experience even when you're talking about the hard stuff. I hope you have a great weekend, and take good care of yourself.
Thank you, living with treatment resistant depression, finally accepted this and stopped trying so hard and now focus on a management plan.
The challenge was when I was first diagnosed I was told that take this medication and feel better in a few weeks. Did not happen and here years later finally having self acceptance without starting a RUclips channel. And with being in a better place due to self acceptance.
i lived with treatment resistant depression, no medication seemed to work, finally VNS ( vagus nerve stimulation) did . ask your dr about it. good luck.
You’re so well spoken, and I really appreciate how much consideration you put into what you say. It’s not an easy journey but you’re helping people with your efforts of awareness and activism. Thank you.
I discovered a program at Rutgers University in NJ that absolutely changed my life I'm on 4 medications and none of them are antipsychotics. The brain is a very powerful thing, as individual as we are. I have learned knowledge there that I never knew existed I'm not 100%, but I'm 90%, and that's okay with me. Learning to untie that knot one by one in your brain strand by strand changed my life.
Thank you for your videos. I suffer from depression and have a schizoaffective and a bi polar siblings. And a husband with GAD / panic disorder. Life can get so heavy and it can seem hopeless . I have learned to stop expecting it to go away and accept what is and take it one day at a time. And know we all carry something and this is our something. And look for the rare sunshine that comes every now and then .
You are simply amazing and a blessing to all those affected by this disease. Keep doing what you do. It's so valuable to so many.